Ladle for casting metals and the like



Aug. 2, 1949. J. A. TOLEIK LADLE FOR CASTING METALS AND THE LIKE 2 Shee'ts Sheet 1 Filed April 17, 1946 a. DINVENTOR. RGM H UJQ/mobt ZTTORNEFY Aug. 2, 1949. J. A. TOLEIK LADLE FOR CASTING METALS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 17, 1.946

if!" Tam INVENTOR.

2 Hdbim Patented Aug. 2,1949

2.471.838 Lanna FOR css'rmo METALS AND THE LIKE

John A. Toleilr, Berwyn, Ill. Application April 17, 1946, Serial No. 662,733

2 Claims.

The present-invention relates to ladies for easting metals and the like, and is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved ladle adapted to be used for pouring castings, while avoiding the inclusion of oxides or other impuriing atmosphere applied to the mold preliminary to the pouring of the casting.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ladle adapted to' be filled from the bottom below the surface of the metal in the melting furnace or crucible, and also adapted to be poured from the bottom so that any oxides which might be on the top of the metal in the furnace will be pushed aside and avoided in the filling of the ladle, and any small amount of oxides which might appear at the top of the metal in the ladle will appear in the sprue if the supply of metal is used up in pouring the casting.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved method of handling molten metals for casting, and an improved method of pouring castings whereby the presence of dirt and oxides in the ladle is minimized, and whereby dirt and oxides are substantially eliminated from the casting.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ladle which is sturdy, adapted to be manufactured economically, and adapted to be used for performing a new series of steps in the filling of the ladle and the pouring of the casting, whereby the casting may be made substantially free of oxides and other inclusions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets,

Fig.' 1 is a side elevational view of a ladle embodying the invention shown in partial section along a plane passing through the axis of the ladle to illustrate the parts thereof. I

Fig. 2 is a top plan view in partial section along y a plane passing above the handle, with the cover removed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view in partial section, showing the use of the ladle in the act of filling the ladle with molten metal.

The present ladle is indicated in its entirety by the numeral ill in Fig. 1, and it preferably includes an elongated handle member Ii supporting a container I! provided with a lower filling and discharge'opening I3. which is closed with a valve ll. The container I! of the ladle and all of the other parts which are subjected to heat are preferably made of metal having a high melting point, such as a nickel chrome steel, while the discharge, nozzle member I5 may be made of the same material or a special refractory insertl adapted to withstand the heat, even to a higher degree.

The ladle i2 is preferably secured to a tubular handle I l which may consist of an elongated steel pipe extending through an aperture it into the ladle to which it is welded completely around the edge of the handle pipe ii, and also reinforced by one or more triangular brace members I! welded to both the handle and the container. The length of the handle and its size depend upon the size of the ladle and the degree of heat to which it is to be subjected.

' The shape of the ladle container it may vary, but it is preferably circular in plan, and preferably tapers downwardly toward the discharge and filling opening IS, with gradually curved lines, so as to facilitate cleaning.

The discharge port insert or nozzle i5 is preferably flush with the surface of the container I! on the inside and outside, and preferably terminates in a tubular body it of substantially cylin drical form. The container i2 is preferably closed by means of a cover it, which may be a domed metal member of the same metal and of sufiicient size to have its large open end 20 fit over the container i2 with which it has a frictional engagement.

A suitable limiting shoulder may be provided by a strip 2i of metal welded on the inside of the cover for engaging the top of the container l2. The container i2 and cover if! may be made of pressed steel members, or they may be made of castings,' depending upon the conditions to which they are to be subjected.

At its upper end the cover is provided with an aperture 22 of suflicient size to pass a valve rod 23 which carries the ball valve H at its lower end. The ball valve it may consist of a steel ball which is of the same metal and adapted to withstand the temperatures of the molten metal.

The ball I4 is provided with a through bore 24 terminating in a threaded counterbore for receiving the threaded end of the valve rod 23, which is preferably a tubular steel member adapted to conduct gas into the mold in which the metal is to be poured.

At its upper end valve rod 23 may be provided with a suitable fitting 28 for attachment of a flexible hose 21 of a type adapted to conduct gas and adapted to resist the action of the heat from the ladle. Another suitable fitting 28 communicates with the interior of cover l9 and has a similar hose 29 to be used for conducting an inert or reducing gas to the surface of the metal in the ladle.

The hoses 21 and 23 may extend outwardly along the handle to a valve block 30, having a pair of shut-off valves spring-actuated to the closed position, and adapted to be actuated by buttons 3| and 32 to cause gas from suitable sources to pass down the hoses 21 and 29 into the valve conduit 24 or into the ladle chamber 33,

as desired.

In order to actuate the valve It the tubular handle I preferably contains a shaft in the form of a rod 34 which is provided at its outer end with a thrust bearing 35 and a radially extending handle 36. At its inner end the shaft or rod 34 is connected to a crank fitting 31 having a radially extending portion 38 for receiving a screw bolt 39. The valve rod or tube 23 may have a suitable bearing sleeve welded to it, the bolt 39 passing through the sleeve 40 and being threaded home in the eccentric part 38 of the crank fitting 31.

The arrangement of the parts is preferably such that the valve I4 is firmly seated on its conical seat 4| in the ladle I2 before the crank 31 reaches its lower dead center. The hole 22 in the cover I9 is preferably a relatively loose sliding fit, but is as small as possible so that although the rotation of the crank 31 involves a lateral movement of the rod 23, this is permitted by the ball I being lifted from its seat 4|.

In other embodiments of the invention the bore 42 in sleeve 40 may be made an oval slot to permit the necessary lateral movement of the bolt 39 while the rod 23 moves upward and downward.

Inasmuch as the ball I4 is a sphere, it seats perfectly upon the conical seat 4| irrespective of the position of the valve rod 23, as is shown in Fig. 3. Also, the arrangement of having a round hole 22 at the top and the crank 31 tends to lift the ball valve l4 toward one side, as shown in Fig. 3, moving the ball out of the way of the discharge aperture l3 more effectively.

The mode of use of my ladle is as follows: The metal may be melted in any suitable crucible or furnace, and in the case of an open hearth furnace the furnace might be provided with a suitable cavity in its bottom for providing a well of molten metal into which the ladle may be inserted. Assuming that no neutral atmosphere or reducing atmosphere is necessary, the operator may dispense entirely with the cover l3 and the hoses 21 and 29. If it is desirable to have an inert atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere in casting some metal, the cover and hoses should be suitthe outside atmosphere, the gas tending to escape 4 through the cracks around the cover and throush the hole 22 around the rod 23.

With the ladle full of such gas, it may then be inserted in the furnace, and may have its nozzle opening I3 inserted through the free surface of the metal past an'y oxides or impurities which may rest upon the surface. The valve I may then be opened by rotating the crank handle 38 in a clockwise direction, looking at the right end of Fig. 1, to lift the ball H.

The molten metal will then pass up into the ladle from the bottom until a suitable supply is acquired in the ladle, preferably at a level below the crank fitting 31 when the valve I4 may be closed by rotating the crank handle 36 backward in a counterclockwise direction, and the valve will be held in this closed position by the metal in the ladle as'the ladle is lifted from the molten metal in the furnace and carried to the point of pouring the casting. Q

If a neutral or reducing atmosphere is used. this gas, having previously been placed in the ladle, will be driven out as the ladle is filled from the bottom, but sumcient will rest on top of the molten metal to maintain neutral or reducing conditions. If any small amount of oxides may have been caught in the nozzle l3 of the ladle when it is pushed through the surface of the molten metal in the furnace, these will pass to the top of the molten metal in the ladle.

Assuming that the mold is also to be gassed with an inert atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere, the nozzle I3 is placed adjacent the filling opening of the ladle, and, by means of the pushbutton valve 3|, the gas, which is usually heavier than air, is caused to pass down the hose 21 and down the valve tube 23 through the valve conduit 24, into the mold, displacing all of the air in the mold, until the mold is filled with this inert or reducing atmosphere. Thereafter, the valve l4 may again be opened by turning the crank handle 36 clockwise, looking at the right end of Fig. 1, and the metal will run out of the bottom of the ladle into the mold, the oxides or other light inclusions staying at the top of the surface of the metal in the ladle.

If only enough metal is included in the ladle for one casting, the oxides at the top of the molten metal in the ladle will come out last through the discharge opening I3, and will be located in the sprue of the casting. The same result will be secured if there is sufilcient metal in the ladle for a number of castings, as the oxides and other light inclusions resting on top of the molten metal in the ladle will then be in the sprue of the last casting.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved ladle by means of which the presence of oxides or other inclusions in the poured castings is minimized or substantially eliminated. My ladle may be used with an inert or reducing atmosphere on top of the metal in the ladle, and it may also be used to gas the mold and apply such atmosphere to the interior of the mold preliminary t0 the pouring of the casting so that oxidation of the metal is reduced to a minimum.

The discharge nozzle of the ladle may be made to fit the filling opening of the mold so that metal passes directly from the ladle into the filling openings of the mold without oxidation. As the present ladle is adapted to be filled from the bottom and from below the surface of the metal in the furnace, the oxides and other impurities which rise to the surface of the molten metal are left in the furnace, Any small amount of oxides which might impinge upon the discharge open- I ing of the ladle asit is passed through the free surface of th molten metal, may pass to the surface of the molten metal in the ladle and is there retained until it is at last discharged into the sprue of a casting,

As the ladle will fill to a depth which depends upon the depth of its immersion in the molten metal of the furnace, it is not necessary to remove the cover or to have any other indication of the amount of its filling, but in casting certain metals no cover need be employed.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a portable ladle for filling molds without exposing the molten metal to oxidation, the combination of a round metal receptacle tapered toward its lower end and provided at its lower end with a circular filling and discharge opening communicating with a tubular downwardly projectin locating spout for engagement in the fillin opening of a mold, a handle for said ladle, comprising an elongated pipe having one end secured to said receptacle and communicating with the receptacle, the other end being for support by the hands, an elongated shaft rotatably mounted in said pipe handle and projecting from the outer end thereof, a manual actuating member carried by the outer end of said shaft, a radially extending arm carried by the inner end of said shaft, an eccentrically located pin extending substantially parallel to said shaft and carried by said arm on an axis eccentric to said shaft, a cover for said receptacle, and a ball valve for openin or closing said discharge and filling opening, said ball valve being carried by a rod extending substantially axially of the receptacle and discharge opening, said rod having a bearing for said eccentric pin, and the said e ongated shaft being rotatable to lift said ball valve from said discharge opening, the manual actuating means and ball valve and metal in the receptacle serving to hold the ball valve in closed position after the receptacle has been filled with molten metal, the said receptacle being filled by pressing the receptacle down into the molten metal with the filling opening open, and the metal being retained by moving the ball valve to close the filling opening, and the metal being transferable to a mold through the same discharge opening by the opening of the ball valve, with the tubular spout located in the filling opening of the mold.

2. In a portable ladle for filling molds without exposing the molten metal to oxidation, the combination of a round metal receptacle tapered toward its lower end and provided at its lower end with a circular filling and discharge opening communicating with a tubular downwardly projecting locating spout for engagement in the filling opening of a mold, a handle for said ladle, comprising an elongatedpipe having one end secured to said receptacle and communicating with the receptacle, the other end being for support by the hands, an elongated shaft rotatably mounted in said pipe handle and projecting from the outer end thereof, a manual actuating member carried by the outer end of said shaft, a radially extending arm carried by the inner end of said shaft, an eccentrically located pin extending substantially parallel to said shaft and carried by said arm on an axis eccentric to said shaft, a cover for said receptacle, and a, ball valve for opening or closing said discharge and filling opening, said ball valve being carried bya rod extendin substantiall axially of the receptacle and discharge opening, said rod having a bearing for said eccentric pin, and the said elongated shaft being rotatable to lift said ball valve from said discharge opening, the manual actuating means and ball valve and metal in the receptacle serving to hold the ball valve in closed position after the receptacle has been filled with molten metal, the said receptacle being filled by pressin the receptacle down into the molten metal with the filling opening open, and the metal being retained by moving the ball valve to close the filling opening, and the metal being transferable to a mold through the same discharge opening by the opening of the ball valve, with the tubular spout located in the filling opening of the mold, the said rod comprising a metal pipe extending from the ball valve through an opening in said cover, and a flexible conduit carried by said pipe for connection to a source of inert gas, the said cover also having a flexible conduit connected to it for connection to a sourceof gas for maintaining a neutral gas above the molten metal, both said conduits being carried at their free ends by said handle, and the first-mentioned conduit and pipe communicating with said spout through a bore in the ball valve, for permitting the preliminary gassing of the mold to remove the air and replace it with a suitable gas.

JOHN A. TOLEIK.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,261,509 Getman Apr. 2, 1918 1,280,973 Dowrey Oct. 8, 1918 1,332,973 Clark Mar. 9, 1920 2,020,101 Brown Nov. 5, 1935 2,113,894 Lucier Apr. 12, 1938 2,359,524 Lane Oct. 3, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 261,607 Germany June 26, 1818 

